The Lost City
by Foreign Nebula
Summary: [BEING REWRITTEN!] Archaeologist, Kamiya Kaoru, has discovered a secret tomb once belonging to a lost city in the desert. Now transported into this strange new world, she is being stalked by the city's cursed King, the Battousai. He believes that only she can save him and his people, but first, she needs to learn how to stay alive.
1. Chapter 1: The Tomb

_**The Lost City**_

**Disclaimer**: The plot belongs to me… But the characters are not mine. Please don't sue because I am dirt poor… again. This is my first Rurouni Kenshin fic, so please go easy on me.

**Summery**: Archaeologist, Kamiya Kaoru, has discovered a secret tomb once belonging to a lost city in the desert. Now transported into this new world, she is being stalked by the cities King, the Battousai.

_**EDIT: 10/24/2012;**_ I have decided to rewrite certain aspects of this fic so that I can get back into the swing of things and actually finish this fic! Yay for me! But that won't happen for a long while, so buckle-up kids, this is gonna be a loooooong ride!

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**He turned from the balcony, the sun glinting off the orb in his hands. He grinned darkly, retreating deeper into his shadowy sanctuary and biding his time. His gold eyes flashed and he turned the orb in his hands over, running his callused fingers along its smooth surface.**

**He turned his head to look at himself in the mirror and smirked.**

**A flash of dark hair and laughing blue eyes… She would be the one that saved his people. She would be the one that freed him…**

**Soon…**

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**Chapter 1: The Tomb**

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Glancing in the direction of Enishi's tent, Kaoru smiled and rolled her stiff shoulders. How long had it been since she had discovered the tomb? Two months? Three? She couldn't remember; but if it really had been three months, the time had passed by in a blur of translating ancient dialect and flashes of the sun beating down upon her weary form.

She was also three months closer to turning twenty-seven.

Heaving a heavy sigh, Kaoru moved away from the dining tent and the jovial voices of the locals speaking in their native tongue over dinner. She smiled widely when she heard her best friend's loud laughter, no doubt winning in a game of poker for once; and the stern, almost motherly tone of his fiancée. Sano and Megumi were to be married once the archaeological site had been preserved properly, and all the various entrances into the Plaza of the partially-excavated Lost City discovered.

She smiled then, remembering the little secret that Megumi had told her earlier in the week. Would Sano be happy? She didn't know, but knowing his upbringing… Everything would turn out alright for all three of them. She giggled. That had sounded so strange, even by her standards.

The full moon shone down on the sand around her and cast everything in a blue-silver glory. Wrapped around the mysterious desert that constantly shifted underneath her feet, Kaoru couldn't help but feel slightly in awe of her surroundings. The team camp was behind her, glowing in artificial yellow light, while the never-ending sand and stone ruins – the only testament to a once thriving, although, equally mysterious ancient civilisation – was bathed in ethereal silver that reminded her of a fairytale that her mother once read to her as a child.

She continued to walk, the moon creating enough illumination to guide her way to the entrance of the barely excavated city.

There it was in front of her, barely rising out of the sand and being guarded by a sleeping Kamatari, was a doorway into a tomb once belonging to the Lost City.

"_Lost in Name, Lost in Time… Lost in the Desert._" Sano had declared one night at the dig nearly three months previous. She had hit him over the head with her spoon. She couldn't agree with him more now, though. Especially the Lost Name part; she hadn't been able to find anything even remotely referencing it in her research. Not even recent excavations and digs in the Central Plaza several hundred metres away had discovered its secret and long-forgotten name.

It had so frustrated her to the point where she had told Enishi that he could take a flying leap off the nearest mountain yesterday, but with a little more colourful language thrown into the mix. Granted though, she _had_ been wanting to tell him that for years… Now she avoided him at all costs.

Sighing angrily at herself, Kaoru snuck past the sleeping form of Kamatari and reached into the side pocket of her dark olive cargo shorts to pull out her small flashlight. Turning it on, she moved it to shine directly down the small and narrow stairwell that had been hastily cut thousands of years before-hand, and started to descend. One hand rested against the rough-cut wall of sharp sandstone, her fingertips sometimes catching in the deeper and larger cut hieroglyphics that adorned both sides of the stairway.

The air around her grew colder with each step she took and she couldn't help but shiver at its sudden frigidness. Although nights in the desert grew cold, especially during winter, it never compared to what it felt like going into a tomb… especially at night.

The light from her flashlight was weaker than the larger and heavy-duty lamps that the rest of her team used. It was therefore unable to entirely penetrate the black, inky darkness that yawned before her. Unconsciously, she pushed herself closer to the wall and found herself looking behind her, her teenage fear of zombies and ghosts floating to the forefront of her mind. She shook her head suddenly, muttering curses (that she had picked up from Sano) under her breath and pushed herself away from the wall, swallowing the small ball of fear that had lodged itself in her throat.

"There are no such things as vampires. There are no such things as ghosts. There are no such things as zombies. There are no such things as aliens." She repeated this mantra as she went deeper underground and closer toward the newly discovered tomb of the Lost City.

For what felt like hours, she continued down the staircase, but in reality couldn't have been more than ten minutes.

It was then that she saw it.

A faint glow of large, high-powered lamps used to light up various excavation sites around the area, started out as a small pin-prick of light at the bottom of the stairs, then became a welcome relief (to which she attributed to the monotony of the darkness around her in the stairwell). Stopping on the last few steps of the long stairwell, Kaoru heard the welcoming sound of the hum of the generators that powered the large lamps. Hurriedly, she skipped down the last few steps and nearly stumbled into the room, breathing heavily and squashing the little seed of claustrophobia (she always played out her teenage fear as claustrophobia) under her imaginary heel.

Looking up, Kaoru couldn't help but grin. The room that had been only recently excavated revealed one wall covered in glyphs and another wall to her left that depicted a scene of some sort (Enishi believed it to be some kind of ancient sacrifice mural, but she thought otherwise). The mural was far too damaged to make out anything properly, but still she tried. Although, the wall opposite of where she stood, in the doorway of the tomb, was blank.

A complete and empty slate.

In all its strangeness, Kaoru couldn't understand it. Where one wall was covered in glyphs (albeit ones she was having a hard time translating with her apprentice, Yahiko. There was no way in hell that she was going to ask the pompous ass Enishi for help.), the other wall held a scene of some sort… while even the wall that surrounded the doorway had once held what must have been beautiful designs. The wall opposite was just plain and starkly empty.

She frowned, pushing back a lock of dark hair that tickled her nose. Although, there had been that incident the week before when she thought she saw a shimmer in the wall, and… "I'm going crazy." She muttered aloud and moved to step underneath the small circular hole in the ceiling that was a complete anomaly to her and her whole team of archaeologists.

No bigger than six inches across, the hole cut straight up through the limestone, sandstone and, well, sand before it reached the surface. Or that was the theory anyway. They were too far underground for any of the equipment that they had currently to penetrate the depth of the hole and a strange interference always came up on the ground-penetrating radar to see where the hole could be located so that they could dig down to it.

Around the perfectly cut hole were different glyphs, Yahiko earlier in the week had pointed out that they seemed different to the ones used in the room around them; they were similar to Celtic runes but were also had traits that reminded them both of the kanji used in early Japanese history. It was this observation and the fact that the floor was carved out in different sized circles and more kanji-like runes, that led to the conclusion that the room had been of great religious importance.

The blank wall was still a mystery to her (as well as the rest of the team).

Shrugging her shoulders, she turned again to stare at the dark hole above her. The mystery behind its use had remained just that, a mystery… not only because she had yet to translate the first set of glyphs on the wall opposite the faded mural, (and some of the ones in the Plaza excavation site Kihei was guarding at that very moment).

Kaoru turned, squeezing the button to turn the flashlight off and slid it back into her side pocket. She moved over to the wall with the faded mural and started to try and decipher what exactly it was depicting.

It was almost like some kind of elaborate (and very expensive) game of connect-the-dots.

She never noticed the small trickle of sand that started to fall from the hole in the ceiling, until several hours later when things were far too late to change.

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Snapping a photograph of a snoring Kamatari, Misao giggled and whipped out her flashlight to light up the stairs before her. Behind her were Megumi and Sano, conversing, for once, in hushed tones that had her highly suspicious of what was going on. Behind them followed an extremely pissed-off Enishi who was currently pulling off his always-present glasses to 'clean' them.

She highly doubted that, he was more likely taking them off so that he wouldn't trip and fall down the stairs like he did on the first day the tomb was opened. She giggled loudly and received a reprimanding look from him.

"Kamatari sleeps like the dead, eh, Sano?" she started instead, the depressing quiet that had settled around them lifted like some kind of death shroud as they continued down deeper towards the underground tomb.

"I told you guys! Busu wanted to be left alone so she could translate the rune and glyphs by herself… without any interruptions!"

Misao grinned. The young nineteen year old man, Yahiko was at times immature, but loved his work and had received his scholarship to become Kamiya Kaoru's apprentice not two years ago. He had a strong will and was extremely loyal to Kaoru, although he would rather die than admit that.

"Yahiko, you've been given a scholarship by the Museum and the University – don't make me revoke it by your insolence," Enishi growled and threw a dark glare over his shoulder at Yahiko, who ducked his head, looking instead down at his feet and ignoring his boss' boss.

Misao shrugged and turned ahead, her left hand braced against the wall with the glyphs while the other held the large bright flashlight. Her camera swung around her neck, reminding her that Enishi was also her boss as well. She groaned, knowing that there would be a screaming match between her best friend and boss that would leave no one unscathed. Shivering at the thought, she continued onwards, leading the way into the silence around her. Such quiet annoyed her, and brought her mild claustrophobia to come scratching at her mind. Not even Sano or Megumi were talking, which made her even more jittery.

A loud thump from the tomb before them caused Misao to jump and her hand to cut painfully deep against a glyph on the wall. Her sharp intake of breath from the sudden pain was mistaken by the small group as fright – she could feel the blood start to pool slowly in her palm and trickle down her wrist.

Enishi pushed past herself and the others and bounded down the stairs, Yahiko following closely behind him.

Misao shook her head, hissing silently when she closed her hand into a fist, and followed while Sano whispered something to Megumi.

_One day, Kaoru_, Misao thought, _you're going to give me a heart-attack_.

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She turned suddenly at the loud noise behind her, the empty wall seeming to shimmer in the corner of her eyes. She pushed the thought to the back of her mind and sunk into a defensive position, looking around the chamber for any sign of an intruder. The only thing she noticed that was of any difference, sat prettily in the middle of the room on a small pile of sand.

From her stance, her dark, stormy eyes took in the small round orb that glowed an eerie amber gold. Mesmerised, she moved forwards until she knelt down on the sandy floor and reached forwards, gingerly picking up the orb, surprised at its light weight and smooth texture. Running her fingers gently over the side, she gasped when a flicker of violet flashed briefly inside, amongst the storm of amber and gold.

"Beautiful," She whispered, watching as the amber and gold suddenly coalesced into one mass of colour and parted right down the middle, receding to the sides of the sphere. A picture of a dark, starry sky filled the inside, followed by silver moon-glowing sand that surrounded a white stone wall. A small electric thrill ran through her when she noticed the large, towering walls of an ancient castle, reminiscent of the temples and palaces commonly found in Arab and Egyptian cultures. A large tower caught her attention and she squinted her eyes, gasping lightly when the orb seemed to zoom-in on the tower's only window – or, rather balcony.

Her heart started to thump painfully in her chest as she stared at a man with flaming red hair and eyes the colour of a desert storm, '_Almost like the amber and gold of this very orb…_' she thought to herself, '_only they are paler, like he is contemplating something._' She gasped loudly, when the man straightened up from his leaning position against the railings and she watched, in awe, as his eyes darked to gold. A cross shaped scar marred his left cheek, making his appearance look more of a hardened warrior, rather than the royalty that she guessed him to be.

He turned his head and looked directly at her.

Kaoru's breath froze in her lungs as the man smirked; a cold, calculating and dangerous smirk that had her heart beating to a completely different tune. His teeth glinted white in the light of the moon, and she noticed that his canine teeth were shaper and pointer than she had ever seen on a human; they were even more feral looking than on a cat. She found that it suited him.

He suddenly turned away from her and conversed with a figure in the shadows briefly; she felt the orb in her hands thrum pleasantly against her fingertips. He turned back to her then, his eyes flashing in the moonlight, his grin now dark and mysterious. "_**Aanelie…**_" he whispered and her breath escaped in a rush, her heart coming to a shuddering stop and –

"Kamiya!"

Startled, Kaoru snapped out of her daze and dropped the now-dark orb into her lap. She blinked back white spots on her vision and took a deep breath; turning her head slowly to face her boss, Enishi, and her apprentice, Yahiko, without getting dizzy. She stared at them silently, waiting for either of them to continue and held back a giggle at their huffing forms.

It was then that she remembered what she had told Yahiko several hours beforehand. Something to do about privacy and not letting anyone come down here… well, that had just flown out the window. Standing up, she scowled at the two, cradling the orb in the palms of her hands. "Yahiko… Urgh! Never-mind. Come here and look at this!" she ordered, glaring at Enishi and turning to the dark haired teenager. "It just fell from the ceiling. What are your thoughts and observations?" she asked, handing the orb to him and noticing that instead of the amber and gold swirling in the middle, it was an amethyst colour that looked clear enough to see through. She stared open-mouthed at the sudden change. The colour didn't even swirl like the amber and gold but, seemed to be still and just to be just like a crystal, it even had wisps of white inside it.

"… moon stone." Yahiko finished talking, his voice penetrating her thoughts and bringing her back to reality.

"I'm sorry Yahiko," she said, shaking her head to clear it of cobwebs, "but could you say that again?"

Yahiko sighed and glared darkly at Kaoru. "Stupid busu." He muttered, only to get hit upside the head by her hand. "Ow! Alright already!" he yelled, shoving the orb back to her roughly. "It's a stupid moonstone. Only it's strange because its purple and not white!" he huffed angrily and moved away from her, muttering under his breath.

Kaoru blinked, and then smiled at Yahiko, only to have it fade away when he glowered at her. She huffed indignantly and turned away from him, facing the doorway just as Misao, Sano and Megumi stumbled into the tomb, blinking at the sudden brightness. She smiled to Misao who grunted, blinking rapidly and looking slightly pale. It was around this time that she heard Enishi's '_hurumph_'. She turned towards him, frowning darkly, her eyes catching what she thought was a flash of amber in the orb.

"You were prohibited from entering this tomb until you finished translating the glyphs in the Plaza, Kamiya." Enishi growled out, staring her down while he fiddled with his stylish sunglasses. "I don't suppose you have finished, have you?"

Kaoru shook her head. "Er, not exactly. They're a bit challenging, but I sent Team G to help translate the glyphs along with some of my team-members; you know, a new set of eyes to help with the translations." She said this calmly, fighting the urge to be sheepish in front of her boss. She had a feeling that he wanted her to apologise, but she wouldn't be doing that, not any time soon. Maybe on her deathbed, but that wouldn't happen until a while from now. Hopefully.

"You still disobeyed me." He continued, pushing her to apologise for not-so-gracefully telling him to leave her alone the day before.

Maybe if she played it off as the heat? She didn't know if that would work… she growled mentally to herself, berating her brain for coming up with pathetic excuses to kiss-up to Enishi. Not happening. Not now… not ever.

Using her anger at herself that was boiling just under the surface, she turned defiantly to him, holding out the orb. "It was a good thing that I was here though. What would have happened if a tomb robber had come down here while Kamatari was sleeping? We wouldn't have known what would have been in the hole. We'd be left in the dark." She grinned triumphantly, when she noticed the small glint in Enishi's eyes, her voice grew louder and more confident. "We wouldn't have known what this orb could have been used for. What the purpose of this orb was, what this tomb actually-"

"Oh Misao! What did you do?!"

Kaoru turned to Megumi and Misao who still stood near the doorway. Sano had drifted over to the hole in the ceiling next to Enishi and Kaoru while they were having their argument, and was staring straight up at it avidly. "What happened? What's wrong?" she asked, thrusting the orb to Sano who caught it and shrugged, turning back to look up at the hole and frowned.

Kaoru bustled over to the two women, Yahiko coming over soon after and looking over Megumi's shoulder, nearly blanching at the sight of the deep cut on Misao's palm.

"Man, that looks like it's gotta hurt." Yahiko muttered, turning away from them (also glaring darkly at Kaoru who retaliated by sticking her tongue out at him) and walking over to Enishi who stood staring at the orb in Sano's hands.

"I'm fine. It's just a little cut. I'm fine, really." Misao was explaining, wincing when Megumi moved her hand to turn into a fist. "Uh, you can let go now."

"This is deep, Misao. Why didn't you say anything earlier? Any deeper and you'd need stiches." Megumi was saying lightly, missing the shorter woman's paling form. "Hmm, maybe you do need stiches. The bleeding seems to have slowed down a little."

Just as she said the word 'bleeding', a small dollop of blood dropped from Misao's bare elbow and fell onto the outer-most groove in the floor, splattering onto the dusty floor and seeping into some of the runes in the groove. Kaoru thought it was a kind of pretty effect, but then shook her head and told herself to stop watching Yahiko's and Sano's morbid movies.

"How'd you do that?" Kaoru asked, frowning at her injured friend.

"It's stupid really." Misao tried, but shrunk back lightly when Kaoru gave her the famous Kamiya Glare. "Alright! When that orb thingy hit the ground and made that loud noise, which gave me the shits by the way, I cut my hand on one of the hieroglyphs on the wall. Like I said, no big deal."

Megumi looked stern. "Oh yes, big deal! We don't know what's been living down here. The germs and the bacteria that might never have seen the light of day if it weren't for us, have been breeding down here for thousands of years! Who knows exactly what might have been transferred on to your open wound?!"

"Megumi, don't you think you're stretching things a bit too far?" Misao tried to plead but caught Kaoru and Megumi's glares.

"Megumi's right, Misao. It would be best if you go back to camp now and get that treated properly. Maybe stick it in some Holy Water?" Kaoru giggled at the last part and caught the end of Megumi's stern stare at her. "Er, maybe you should go now?"

Misao pouted. "The only reason I didn't go back to camp when I first got my hand cut was to keep you and Enishi from going at each others throats. Hey! I still did!" she smiled. "But, if I leave now, you're both going to scream at each other anyway, so why bother going back?"

"So you don't die!" Megumi and Kaoru yelled at the same time, and Misao knew then that she had lost the argument.

"Hey, guys. You can see the moon right through this thing." Sano said…

… And all the lights promptly went out. The hum of the generators died, and noise in the forms of panicked yells filled the tomb.

From what Kaoru could make out, Yahiko had backed away from Enishi (maybe he thought the guy was a zombie like she did?) and had tripped over Sano in the same time, causing both of them to topple to the ground with a loud 'oof!'.

A loud clunk, like that of heavy glass falling to the ground, stopped all the panic and Kaoru gasped. "The orb!" she yelled, scrambling for her flashlight and turning it on. But it didn't work. Neither did any of the other lights her friends and colleagues tried.

The sound of glass rolling across a stone floor became the only sound once more. Kaoru guessed the orb had fallen from Sano's grasp when Yahiko had tripped into him, and was now rolling away from him. But wait, it had stopped somewhere nearby them both.

A sudden silver light seemed to erupt from the hole in the ceiling and beam directly on to what Kaoru saw was the violet orb sitting in a groove directly beneath the hole. A small, faint hum started in the air, and she could have sworn that her blood was thrumming with a primal, beat deep within her. Mesmerised, she gasped and jumped back when the orb flashed lilac once more and the circles etched into the floor started to glow the same colour, spreading like a ripple outwards from the orb. Soon the whole tomb was aglow in a rich, purple splendour, just now reaching the outer circles and runes.

When the ripple reached the final circle and the set of kanji-runes, especially the area upon which Misao's blood had dropped, the room was plunged into darkness once more. This only lasted for a few seconds however, as the colour came flooding back with a vengence… this time a burning, glaring gold.

"This is amazing." Enishi said over the hum of whatever forces were in the room.

Kaoru found it to be amazing for an entirely different reason.

The back wall, the wall that had previously been devoid of anything, was now alive with pulsing runes and swirling symbols of the same gold as the orb, which was now hovering in the centre of the tomb. She hurried over to the other side, as if driven by some unseen force, and pressed her palm to the wall…

… Only to fall through the wall and into a never-ending darkness that choked her of her life, throwing her mind into a void she doubted she'd ever get out of again.


	2. Chapter 2: The Aanelie

_**The Lost City**_

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Chapter 2: The Aanelie

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**He felt the ancient magic exploding in the night air,**_**feel**_**the tang of the realities rip apart and the sulphur that existed in the World Between coil like a slumbering serpent up his sensitive nose. Golden eyes snapped open, eyeing the glass, domed ceiling and the millions of stars above him. The glow of the twin moons was light enough to brighten up his chambers for him to see his surroundings clearly.**

**He sat up lazily, stretching and twisting like a cat; then turned to face himself in the mirror once again. He smirked. Red hair the colour of spilt blood, blew in the night-cool breeze, as he licked his lips, fangs glinting in the moonlight.**

**The mirror shimmered as his image disappeared and revealed the figure of a woman that lay sprawled, obviously unconscious, against a dirty, sand-covered floor. As he watched, the firelight from the torches, which were mounted on the wall, ghost over her bronzed skin; something deep inside his being sparked and came to life. The woman's dark lashes danced across her cheek as her eyes moved in sleep, her long, dark hair stirring in a small draft.**

**He lifted a short, clawed hand, and waved, dismissing the magic that had he had summoned in the mirror. He stared at his elongated talons and glowered darkly; their only uses were to look menacing, and to slice open any fool, stupid enough to attack his kingdom.**

**Snorting in disgust, he turned away from the mirror and stalked over to his open balcony, narrowing his golden-amber eyes as they stared out into the distance towards the Gateway.**

**The night was still young, he mused, hopping up onto the thick marble railing as he called for his wings. A thick, powerful aura of black-as-night violet wrapped around him, starting from his feet and whipping up past his hair. The skin at the tips of his shoulder-blades, started to rip and tear, two long, white bones slashing through both muscle and skin, and finally through his shirt to reach far out into the night sky above him. Sinew and muscle grew at an alarming rate from his back and over the new bones, covered them in the blink of an eye in raven coloured feathers.**

**Only in closed quarters did he permit himself to revel in pain, now was one of those times.**

**Hissing in pain through his clenched teeth, he jumped off the thick guard railing, encased in the mass of black feathers he had newly grown. He took flight into the darkness, his wings beating silently behind him as a torn shirt fluttered to the ground, far,**_**far**_**beneath him.**

**After so many years of dreaming about his dark, haired Goddess, he would finally meet her…**

**Finally…**

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Bright golden light pierced her closed eyelids and she stirred, her stormy blue eyes opening quickly, only to squeeze shut just as fast, in an attempt to block out the glare of the suns.

"If I find out Sano spiked the punch at dinner last night… Megumi is gonna have to find herself a new fiance." A voice to her left moaned, and Kaoru turned her head, squinting her eyes at the blurry form of her friend Misao, who was having a hard time trying to sit up.

Misao's long hair, braided last night, had come undone now and fell in a long curtain of dark hair over her right shoulder, hiding her grimacing face. She still had on her black tank-top, her bra straps showing clearly over her tanned shoulders, and the camel-brown cargo pants sat prettily on her hips. Her camera still swung like a pendulum around her neck, almost a reminder that something had happened the night before to cause her to wear her precious digital contraption, even now.

Kaoru groaned and sat up, her eyes trailing over her own attire from the day before. Same coffee-stained white tank-top, same cargo shorts, same camel brown hiking boots and dark coloured socks. Her hands came up to her parched throat, sighing in relief when her fingers brushed over the indigo kerchief her father had given her on her first dig nearly twenty years ago.

She sighed silently and stood up, her mind and body feeling strangely numb and… she paused. She couldn't really explain it. Could someone feel… empty and… and full at the same time? Like she had suddenly gained something that had been missing her entire life, even though she had no idea what it was?

A nagging thought scratched incessantly at her mind, begging for her attention one moment, and running away when she noticed it. '_What did it want_?' She thought. She searched her mind for the thought and shrugged, recalling the fleeting emotion she had gotten from that split second of attention she had given it, before it evaporated like water. It seemed like it had wanted to tell her something, or rather, warn her of something, but was definitely afraid of telling her what it was.

She turned to face the room around her, when the thought, the _feeling_, came back.

It confused her.

Just like the last time, like it had never started to bother her, the sensation disappeared. Her body drooped with a numbness she hadn't felt until now.

Frustrated, Kaoru moved her sluggish limbs to push her body to move and do _something_ other than standing around. Her eyes slowly roved around room, realising that it was the same tomb that she had entered earlier in an effort to try and translate the glyphs… but, it was different.

Shaking her head, she glared at Sanosuke's unconscious form on the ground and reigned in the urge to kick him _**hard**_ between the legs. '_If he put some kind of hallucinogen in the drinks last night…_' Mentally she shook her fist in his direction before turning her nose away from him.

"It really must have been the drugs," she muttered to herself as she explored the transformed tomb.

When she had first come-to, she'd mistaken what she now saw to be numerous torches in the corners of the tomb as the sun. (Well, suns really, but it was a slip of the tongue. Could have happened to anybody). Her eyes widened, not exactly comprehending the change.

Misao still sat, holding her head in some kind of pain. It wasn't Misao that caught Kaoru's attention however, it was the wall behind her. Once devoid of colour and bleak, with only the merest of outlines, it seemingly glared at her now. Startling pinks and magenta, coloured prints and a richly-tinted blue that she had only seen in her father's eyes, adorned the wall before her; the mural captured her gaze, rising a series of questions that she had been taught by Professors and teachers alike to ask her entire life. Stepping over Yahiko's snoring form to get to the vibrant mural, she blamed the drugs Sano _**must**_have fed them for what she was seeing as the dominant subject in the ancient painting.

The mural that had once been but a mysterious shadow of grey on the wall, stared back at her now and the once lone outline of a curvaceous figure was staring out at her with a blissful smile on her pale face. Eyes the colour of the sapphires seemed to twinkle; her figure was wrapped up in loose layers of ribbons that seemed to float behind her in an ethereal breeze, creating a second skin. It was strange, but the woman bore a striking resemblance to herself…

'_Nah!'_ she thought, waving a mental hand and dismissing the thought from her heavy mind.

Her newly awoken attention caught on to the fact that five figures stood guard in the painting, surrounding the woman protectively. A man just a little bit to the right of the woman wore a crabby face, dark glasses hiding his eyes as he stood with his arms folded, wearing a dark green Egyptian kilt that she recognised as being the dress of royalty. She could see no weapons on him, but further investigation revealed the hilt of a sword just behind him. A shock of light hair caused her to turn her thoughts to how strikingly familiar some of the people in the mural looked. To her, the man even had the same arrogant and aristocratic air about him like a certain boss of hers.

The next person on the opposite side of the main figure, just off to its left, was an imposing figure of a tall man with brown wayward hair. A red bandanna tied around his forehead kept the hair out of his eyes. The position he had been painting in was that of a fist-to-fist fighter style, ready to duke it out with the next person who challenged him. The white, form fitting pants and untied shirt suited him well, especially the carefully painted white bandages on his torso, fists and legs. She frowned, remembering a similar position Sano had been in for his Karate tournament not eight years ago.

She turned to one of the woman found right under the Sano look-alike, her eyes widening at the impeccable violet gown she wore. Long raven tresses flowed down her back with glints of green and blue. She stood in a pose that commanded respect and authority, her face had been painted at a prolific angle, her eyes dark and mysterious. In her hands she held a bowl which seemed to be filled with leaves, small dots of blues and pinks making it appear to be like some sort of magic.

She grinned when she turned to face a depiction of another woman on the other side of the mural, directly beneath the light haired man. She was short and petite, that much Kaoru could tell, but other than the fact she was wearing strange dark-blue ninja clothing of ancient Japan, and holding what appeared to be kunai in her mouth and both fists, she couldn't tell much about her. Her hair, long as it was, was pulled behind her in an extremely long plait, and hinted on dark tones of green-black hair. Her eyes were closed, as if in concentration.

Kaoru turned to the last figure on the mural, noticing an average sized boy wearing the white pants of a Japanese hakama and a yellow gi. His dark, spiky hair looked long and gravity defying, but Kaoru thought that it suited him. His dark eyes and deeply-tanned skin looked menacing as crouched in a defensive position she'd seen in kendo; legs spread apart and bokken held straight in front of him. Funny, it looked similar to her family's style of kendo, the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu.

"Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas any more."

Turning to see where the voice came from, Kaoru glared at Sanosuke as he sat up slowly, staring around him with wide eyes at the sudden and turbulent change. His eyes widened to saucer-like proportions and he stood up, jumping over Enishi's prone form, and racing over to her; only to pick her up in a big bear hug. "Jou-chan! You're alive!" he seemed to sob, swinging her around like she was a doll. "We all dived in after you when that wall … _**ATE**_ you!" He placed her down on the ground, placing his hands on her shoulders. "And then… I just woke up." He looked thoughtful, ignoring Kaoru's infamous death-glare and looked around once again. "What happened?"

"I don't know, Sanosuke! Why don't you tell **us** what you did with the drinks? You spiked them, didn't you?!" Kaoru demanded, stomping her foot and placing her hand on her hips.

Sano stumbled backwards, tripping over Enishi and awaking him with an '_oof!_'. "Eh, sorry man." He mumbled to Enishi's glare and jumped back up to his feet, turning back to Kaoru. "I swear! I didn't do anything! I didn't spike the drinks… this time… I swear!" he exclaimed, holding up his hands in defence.

"Well… who the hell did? Because if I'm not high, then this is one hell of a trippy dream." Yahiko mumbled, pushing himself off of his stomach and pointing to the blank wall behind them. "I do distinctly remember though, that wall doing some crazy stuff last night… that light show was pretty cool though."

Kaoru, Sano, Enishi and Misao went over to the back wall filled with glittering kanji-like runes. A faint thrumming-like power coursed through Kaoru's fingertips as she got closer to the wall. She didn't know if anyone felt it, or if it was her, but by the look of Misao's uneasy shifting, she was feeling it too.

"Interesting." Enishi murmured, reaching out a hand and brushing it against a glittering rune that seemed to translate in their minds to '_Aanelie_'. As soon as his fingertips brushed against the rune, though, the glittering suddenly vanished; the almost magical thrum that had worked its way from Kaoru's fingertips to move lazily in her bloodstream disappearing along with it. It left her feeling empty and slightly teary.

She shook her head, returning her thoughts to the strange goings-on. "What just happened?" she asked, placing a palm on the now empty wall and looking to her friends.

"I… I don't know." Enishi said, turning instantly to his '_I'm-thinking-now-so-leave-me-alone_' mode.

Kaoru shrugged, turning to Megumi as she started to wake up.

Sano dashed over, helping up his fiancée from the cold dirty ground.

Misao, meanwhile leaned her back against the empty wall and lifted her hands to stretch. Feeling a small sting in the palm of her left hand, she looked down and paled, noticing that the cut on her hand had completely healed over. She suddenly held it away from her as if it were a snake ready to strike her down. "My… _my hand!_"

At Misao's outburst at her injured hand, Megumi rushed over, ready to assist the young photographer if her hand decided to drop off. "Well I'll be damned." She gasped, showing the others Misao's blood-free palm, and the small, neat scar that resided in the cuts place.

"How did _**that**_ happen?" Sano exclaimed, grabbing Misao's hand to look at her palm better (nearly wrenching her off her feet as well), only for her palm to be pulled angrily out of his grasp.

"Hey! That's _**my**_ arm you guys are trying to pull out of its socket!" Misao screeched, glaring at the group around her. "I don't know what the Hell is going on, but I'm going back to my tent and staying in there until this trippy dream ends!" she pushed past Yahiko and Enishi, unconsciously rubbing her now scarred palm against her thighs, and stalked over to the stairs.

"Misao! Wait!" Kaoru yelled out, sprinting after her friend and disappearing into the dark of the stairwell going up. She caught up quick enough, slightly out of breath, but continued on at a slightly more sedate pace, one step behind Misao.

Minutes trickled by, sound drifting up to them, indicating that the four in the tomb had followed after them. Finally, a white pinprick of light appeared before them and before they knew it, they had stumbled out into the desert night air, startling the two men in chain-mail armour that stood guard at the door.

"Oh, hell no." Kaoru swore, shifting into a defensive stance and ready to fight them off as they got over their shock and charged.

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Rough hands grasped Kaoru by her biceps, holding her steady as a small troop of soldiers stared unabashedly at her and Misao. She glared, kicking out with her legs, only to start falling to the ground and quickly being held up by the two guards holding her arms behind her.

"Is that…?"

"By _Aanelie_!"

"… exactly like _**her**_!

"It's blasphemy, I say!"

"… should we let her go and alert the King?"

She blinked. Beside her, also being restrained by big, burly brutes, Misao had crossed her eyes, indicating that she thought the men were crazy… and not in a good way. "Let me go! You can't loot the tomb! There is nothing for you to steal!" she yelled out, stomping her foot in agitation.

The guards looked at her with something akin to awe in their eyes. One of the guards shifted uncomfortably behind her and spoke. "I am sorry, my lady, but we cannot permit something like this. We have no proof that you are our _Aanelie_. Although you wear the strangest of garbs, it does not indicated if you are real or not."

"She is standing right in front of you with your meaty hands holding onto her arms – of course she's real, you big oaf!" Misao exclaimed, trying to squirm out of the men's grip that held tightly onto her.

"She must be the _Aanelie's_ **kitsuneyo**." A guard whispered off to their left.

"No, the **kitsuneyo**was taller. She's got to be the **nika**. Don't you know anything?" Another replied, shoving the first guard teasingly. "Someone was sleeping through their history lessons," he continued.

Kaoru blew an errant strand of midnight dark hair away from her eyes and sighed. "I'm sorry to interrupt this inane chatter of the First Wives Club, but can we fast-forward to what exactly it is that we have done and–" '_What the hell is this_Aanelie_person anyway?!_' she was going to say, but was effectively cut off by a boy yelling over the dune behind them.

"General! We found other trespassers coming out of the _Aanelie's_ Tomb! They are exactly like the _Aanelie's_ Protectors!" the young boy yelled as he stumbled down the dune, pointing behind him just as Yahiko, Megumi, Sano and Enishi crested the moon-light rise, each being restrained by two guards.

"By _Aanelie_! It is _**her**_!" screamed a guard further behind Kaoru and she turned slightly to watch as the older man fall to his knees and start to bow down low in her direction. Quickly other guards followed his lead. Soon, the guards that had held Kaoru and Misao, relinquished their holds on them and seemed to bow the deepest.

"Honourable _Aanelie_! We are not worthy!" came the unified cry from the guards bowing to them.

Kaoru was puzzled. "Do they mean me? Or you?" she asked, watching everything with a raised brow.

Misao glowered, folding her free arms over her chest. "Oh, it always has to be about you, right?" she huffed, but the cheeky, mischievous glint in her eyes remained. "I don't know really, but I'd be lying if I thought it was creepy." She grinned.

"Kaoru! Misao!" Yahiko called out, sprinting towards them when the guards that belonged to their party got down on their knees and bowed. "What the hell is going on here?" he asked, eyeing the two dozen-or-so men in ancient Persian-looking armour, their voices rising in unison as they continued to bow and chant.

"We are not worthy!"

Megumi shook her head. "Has the camp been overtaken by these guys, or is this some kind of April Fools joke?" she muttered, a hand unconsciously going to her belly.

"Uh, don't forget that trippy dream choice; you were talking about that in Tomb earlier!" Misao chimed in, grinning.

"Um, guys… E.T. needs to call long-distance." Sano stated, pointing nonchalantly towards the dark night sky where two, large, luminous moons shone down on them all in the desert. The light was bright enough to be nearly early morning; those few, precious moments before the graying of the dawn makes itself known to the world.

Kaoru stared, as did the rest of the group.

"Pinch me, I must be dreaming." Yahiko said, staring open mouthed at the sky.

Sano reached over and grabbed at fist-full of Yahiko's yellow shirt, twisting it suddenly so that he shrieked in shock and pain. "Nipple Twist;" Sano stated, "It wakes anybody up." He finished with a grin, dodging Yahiko's punch to his head.

Misao went pale, the situation dawning on her then. "Damn, this is real." She whispered to herself, the group coming to the same, shocked conclusion.

Megumi sighed. "Maybe, now's a bad time to say that I'm pregnant?"

Sano stiffened beside her. "What?!" he asked loudly, spinning to face her, eyes serious as he waited for her answer.

"Surprise?" she answered uncertainly, only to start laughing when Sano picked her and started to twirl her around, laughing with her.

Kaoru smiled, tears swimming in her stormy eyes while Misao openly cried in happiness beside her. Enishi looked indifferent while Yahiko grinned under his blush.

She stiffened, feeling a radiating power coming quickly towards them, and her smile faded from her face. She could feel something else, something completely different to that power, an underlying current… an… aura?

She frowned, ignoring her celebrating friends and the still bowing and chanting guards, looking instead around the silver-sheen of the desert.

Never had she felt such a strange feeling, a new, sixth sense seeming to blossom to life with the simplest of strokes of this dark aura with her own. Focusing on this newfound feeling, she gasped mentally, her eyes slightly widening, but not enough to alert her friends.

The aura she felt was coming from right behind her at a leisurely pace now, the aura itself rippling into the night like waves crashing on a shore. It pulled at her, awakening feelings and emotions she hadn't felt since she was a child.

The aura was pulsing with a dark power, radiating a golden coldness that enveloped her senses for a moment before retreating, only to wrap around her again, just as quickly. It seemed to howl when she started to fight it back, and her body tensed when the hairs on the back of her neck and hands lifted; she felt eyes boring holes into the back of her head.

Slowly, as if trapped underwater and unable to breathe; she turned around, her gasp loud and slightly awed. She saw the man from the gold-violet orb walk over a dune now in front of her, the white walls of a fortified castle, shimmering from the deserts escaping heat in the distance behind him.

She stared at him, her eyes trapped in his golden gaze, and then he said two words that brought her world crashing about her ears.

"_**My**__Aanelie._"

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_To be continued... _

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_A/N: Feedback is very much appreciated and constructive criticism is admired. Flames will be ignored._


	3. Chapter 3: The Nightmare

_**The Lost City**_

AN: A massive thank-you to everyone who review and favourited last chapter. And to Superkassu, thankyou for pointing that out to me. I'll have to find some time to fix that little mishap up.

**xXx**

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**Chapter 3: The Nightmare**

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**Staring at the petite woman in his arms, he watched the slowly rising sun catch in glints off of her dark, ebony hair. A small breeze stirred her locks, and she moaned softly in her unconscious state.**

**He was already halfway back to the palace, the Protectors being escorted by his regiment of thirty guards behind him, still a distance away.**

**Returning his musings back to the woman he carried in his arms, he could very well understand the reasons for the Protector's distress. She was a vision of ethereal beauty that her friends, no doubt, prided in; their loyalty had been unwavering and furious when he'd swooped out of nowhere, literally sweeping her fainting form off of her feet.**

**They had started to demand that he release her, the**_**nika**_**more fervently so than the rest, when he had ordered his guards to 'escort' them back to the palace, and to have them cleaned-up and presentable. Their protests had only grown stronger when he had turned and left them while he sprinted back to the castle.**

**Opting to deposit the unconscious figure of his**_**Aanelie**_**in her chambers with little chance of being seen by either servants or guards, he summoned his wings. Feeling the strain on both his magic reserves and his physical strength, he took to the air at the top of the last dune. Before him stood a colossal white barricade that served as a wall between his people and the desert storms. His dark wings beat a steady tune as he flew towards the second tower to the west, landing gently on the large marble balcony, and braced himself for what he was to do next.**

**Gritting his teeth against the on-coming pain (which usually left him sweating blood when he was in his private chambers), he shed the magic that held his wings in place. Darkness fell in a cascade of feathers to the marble-and-stone balcony, only to be swept off by the cool morning breeze and disappear entirely as the magic left them. His newly sprouted limbs and tendons retracted into his shoulder blades; the only trace that they had ever existed were the small, twin trickles of blood from the rapidly healing torn skin.**

**He un-clenched his teeth, pushing aside the white-hot, pulsing pain for another, more private time.**

**Glancing at his**_**Aanelie**_**, he moved passed the open doors and into the chamber decorated in light colours of blues and whites. It was almost the exact opposite to his own, dark coloured room.**

**Walking passed the small, burbling fountain, he stepped onto the dais on which a large bed resided. Covered in veils of various blues and whites, he settled the woman into the centre of the bed, and pulled a thin blue blanket of fine cotton from the foot of the bed over her body.**

**Still leaning over her, he bit back a smile and moved off of the bed, and out of the curtain of veils that surrounded her hidden form.**

**"Until later, my dear**_**Aanelie**_**," he whispered, and left the room from the concealed front door.**

**As the door closed behind him, he missed the beginnings of her nightmares, and her choked cries of help.**

**xXx**

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**xXx**

She was fifteen again, and standing in the native garden her nanny had grown when she was but a baby. Banksias flowered in clumps of yellow, gold and red off to her left; while blue-gums, red-gums and eucalyptus trees towered above her on all sides.

Wattle, with their small yellow blossoms and brown seed-pods, gave off a heady scent – they grew just past the porch steps five paces in front of her. A gentle aroma of jasmine replaced the scent when the breeze blew by.

Those had been her mother's favourite flowers, and planted especially for her memory upon her passing when Kaoru had been but seven years old.

A wide spectrum of colours assaulted and surrounded Kaoru, but she ignored it all in favour of staring at the house her mother and father had built before her birth.

Built not twenty years ago, the house was early colonial Australian – similar in design to the old-style American ranch, only more suited to the Australian climate. A one-story, sprawling building that had attracted both her Japanese-born parents, it had a long porch that surrounded the entirety of the building. Painted in muted whites, peaches, and yellows, the house gave off a refreshing family vibe she hadn't felt since that day she had discovered her father…

Kaoru shook her head, looking at the porch, and smiled, noticing her black-and-blue skateboard, propped up against the love seat that swung gently in the breeze.

Taking a step forwards, the sound of twittering birds died away, and the sunshine, which had bathed everything in a golden glory, suddenly turned cold and unfeeling against her cooling cheeks. The love seat swung violently in the now-ominous wind, her skateboard falling over with a loud thump.

She took a step back, out of fear, and sound and warmth came flooding back. The feeling of death, despair and listlessness that had so swamped her senses not seconds earlier, was replaced with wellbeing, love and optimism. She blinked, her eyes widening when she took in the skateboard that was still propped against the love seat.

A gentle squeak of old hinges protesting a sudden movement had Kaoru looking at the open fly-screen door that was at an angle which had been thrown back by the wind; banging against the wall of the house when a slightly stronger breeze swept through. She jumped; cobalt-blue eyes seemed to widen further at the sound. She paled when she noticed that the front door to her childhood holiday house was wide open; the darkness of her home unnatural.

Something about the darkness seemed to call to her, and Kaoru could feel herself walking forward.

Haltingly, she started to move forward, finding herself in the cold world of a dark memory once again. The dead, unfeeling reality around her was bled of any colour this time, her memory playing out in different shades of grey, white and black. Oddly enough, she noticed splashes of blue here and there, like the blue of her school uniform skirt and the blue stripe on her skateboard.

The world of her memories was morbid enough, and the once-happy time in her life was quickly spiralling out of control and into the beginnings of a nightmare.

Shivering, she ignored the incessant feeling of anxiety creeping up on her as she was pulled by invisible force towards the open doorway.

Her breath quickened in her throat and chest as she stepped onto the porch. Time ticked by her at an agonisingly slow pace as she finally stepped past the doorframe of the dark door and into the entrance hall.

She passed the closed doors that led in to the sitting room, and another leading towards her father's study. Kaoru continued on down the long entrance hall, dread filling her veins as she willed herself to stop and turn around, away from the horrifying fact of life she _**knew**_ was waiting for her up ahead. Only her body failed to listen to her, continuing forwards, walking silently in to the kitchen and turn to the closed doors of the sunroom.

Laying pubescent, fifteen-year-old hands on the handles of the sliding doors, she stopped.

"Daddy?" she heard herself call out, and she came to herself suddenly.

With a jolt, she now stood behind the marble-top counter of the island in the kitchen, twenty-six-turning-twenty-seven, once more. She watched her younger self shrug her shoulders, a large grin coming to her face as she remembered beating Alison Turnstahl's dodgeball team during PE at school that day.

Kaoru remembered this day; she felt the tears gather in her eyes and start to flow down her cheeks. It couldn't be happening, not again! She took a heavy step forwards, but watched in slow-motion as her younger self threw open the doors and swept in to the sunroom, getting swallowed up by the green of the flowing plants her father looked after.

She followed quickly behind her younger self, wide-eyed and breath shallow. Stepping into the room, she moved in a blur; passing the dozens of exotic flowers and ferns sitting in terracotta pots, weaving her way deeper into the sunroom that seemed to have grown ten times larger than she remembered it to be.

As she burst through the suffocating ferns that grew in a tangle on either side, a shaft of white light blinded her, coming through the glass ceiling above. The sound of a straining fan filled the air, and she was puzzled for a moment when the light flickered, a shadow passing through it. Squinting through the returning brightness of the late afternoon light, Kaoru's heart caught in her throat and she moaned, the sound coming from deep within her chest.

"_**No!**_" she screamed, weeping as she fell to her knees and stared at the swinging body that hung from the fan.

Blue eyes stared at her in glazed death; the colour etched into her memory forever. Dark lines she had never noticed on her father's face stood out prominently now; shadows that revealed to her his real age and the heartbreak he had been carrying around for nine years. The rope that he had tied around his broken neck cut deeply into his flesh, blood from the rope burn having coagulated hours ago and staining his white polo shirt. He moved with the motion of the fan, swinging with it gently as it turned, and Kaoru fought the urge to be sick.

An upturned stool lay a few feet from him.

Tears poured forth from her eyes; they were the same colour as her now dead father's sightless orbs of black and cobalt. The nightmare was always the same, the discovery of her father's dead body was a thing that would never leave her.

"It's your fault, you know."

Kaoru looked at her fifteen-year-old-self through teary eyes, sniffling as she clung to herself. Vehemently she shook her head, glaring at her. "No it's not," she whispered harshly, turning to face her gently swaying father and crying even harder.

"But you know it is. Admit it. If only you had stayed with Father, he wouldn't have wanted to kill himself." The fifteen-year-old Kaoru sneered, sitting in the whicker chair their father loved to read the paper in, on Sundays.

"_**NO IT'S NOT!**_" Kaoru screamed out, standing up and stomping over towards her younger self, grabbing her by the shoulders of her white school blouse, and shaking her hard. "It was never my fault! You _**know**_ it was never my fault!" she continued.

"_Yes it is, Kaoru-chan._"

Kaoru froze, her hands stilling on her younger self's shoulders, letting the girl to slip to the floor in a boneless heap, where she started to laugh brokenly. She turned away from her, staring in shock as her dead father stared at her with one of his arms raised. "No, Father. It's not my fault. It was never my fault!" she wept, falling to her knees.

Her father's broken neck moved with a sickening crack as he turned to look at her at a better angle. "_You broke my heart, Kaoru-chan. Your mother never meant to leave me; it wasn't her fault she got sick… no, I forgive her. But you… you pushed me to this. If you would have stayed with me, instead of running off to boarding school and having a life… it's all your fault!_" he moaned, his voice gargled as he spoke through his bloodied throat.

Clamping her hands about her ears and squeezing her eyes shut, Kaoru could do only one thing: she screamed and screamed until she woke up in a bed, her blue eyes staring at a glass domed ceiling with baby blue drapes hanging down from the centre. Dawn seemed to be breaking. The faint glitter of stars faded with the coming of the grey-blue dawn.

It was then that Kaoru realised she was terribly alone.

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Misao, ever the observant one, failed to notice when her best friend fainted into the arms of a red-haired stranger. She did, however, notice when the said stranger started to walk off with her like she belonged to him. She screamed for the return of Kaoru (with added expletives of course), but all she had gotten in response was a cold shoulder and ordered back to a 'palace' to get 'cleaned up'.

She hadn't been the only one to be pissed-off at her friend's kidnapping.

Sano, Enishi and Yahiko, had launched themselves at the red-head with the high pony-tail and cold, golden-yellow eyes; and just like out of some kind of Hollywood movie, were thrown back by an invisible force into the waiting arms of several guards.

"_I will not hurt your precious_Aanelie_, Protectors. You needn't fear for her safety. You__will__see her again very soon,_" was all he had said to the small, clueless group, and he had disappeared over the edge of a dune with Kaoru in his arms.

They had had no choice but to be 'escorted' by the guards to this palace that glittered like an opal in the weak light of the dawning sun.

They had been ushered past the large gates and into the city that was slowly starting to wake. Those that bustled in the early morning food stalls by the side of the roads stared incredulously at the armoured thirty-or-so guards, who escorted the small, rag-tag group safely into the centre of the ancient city where the palace was found.

Once passed another large wall surrounding the palace itself, and up the great-many stairs leading inside, the group had been split up (another argument ensued, only to stop suddenly on Misao's behalf when she caught sight of a tall man with short, dark hair and piercing, ice-blue eyes. She had suddenly felt dirty to the extreme and was not opposed to a bath at all.) and were sent in different directions.

Now, following two female servants and with an entourage of fifteen guards flanking them on all sides, Megumi and Misao were stopped in front of a set of double doors.

"What are we doing now?" Misao asked in a disgruntled tone when the doors were opened slowly. Megumi, who stood beside her, shrugged her shoulders, and kept her hands firmly on her belly, protecting the unborn child in her womb.

Pushed suddenly into a white-tiled room, Megumi and Misao stared at the steam floating about them and warming them from the cold of the desert night outside. Servants clothed in creamy, wool robes bustled about them (all women of varying ages) and tested the waters of the large basin, sunk into the middle of the room.

Misao blinked. "What's going on?!" she yelped, jumping when a short woman came up behind her and started to pull at her clothes. "Hey!" she yelled, whirling around to the woman and glaring at her. "What do you think you're doing!?"

The woman blinked, blushing when the realisation hit her that she was being addressed. "I am to unclothe you for your bath, Mistress _Nika_," she murmured demurely, her head bowed down towards the ground in submission.

Misao blushed brightly, shifting from foot to foot. "Uh, why would you do something like that?" she mumbled, looking towards Megumi who was already standing in her underwear… which were very racy (perhaps for Sano's benefit, she thought darkly). Blushing brighter still, she turned back to the servant and shrugged stiffly. "O-okay. But no funny stuff."

The woman, who couldn't have been younger than Yahiko, smiled brilliantly, gingerly stepping forwards and taking hold of the strap of the camera around Misao's neck, tugged a bit too hard, and sending the older woman sprawling to the floor.

"Watch it!" Misao yelled, gaining all the servants' attention in the room. Doing her best impersonation of a tomato, she stood up, cradling the professional digital camera in her hands. "This is Museum property!" she screeched, glowering darkly at the woman.

"I-I-I'm sorry, M-m-mistress _N-Nika_! It won't ever happen again!" she stammered, her brown eyes getting misty.

"Tsubame! What have you done, you stupid girl!" cried a plump, elder servant woman, storming over to the two of them and back handing the younger woman. The elder turned to Misao and bowed deeply. "My apologies, oh merciful Mistress _Nika_! Never again shall Tsubame be in your vicinity," she cried, grabbing the girl by her upper-arm and started to haul her away.

Misao couldn't help but feel horrified. Tsubame had only been trying to help, and although her attempts had been bungled, she didn't need to be punished so badly, or so blatantly in front of her for it.

"Wait!" she called out, running after the retreating elder woman and Tsubame. "Bring her back! I want Tsubame, and _only_ Tsubame to help me!"

The elder servant stopped and stared at Misao like she had grown an extra head. "If Mistress _Nika_ wishes it," she stated, head bowed in supplication. She pushed Tsubame forward roughly, ignoring the squeak of shock from the girl and turned away hurriedly, throwing a dark look her way. Misao blinked at the ferociousness in the old woman's stare.

Shaking her head, she looked at Tsubame, who stared at her with large eyes. "Are you alright?" she asked, turning back to the baths and catching Megumi's mischievous glint as she settled into the water.

Tsubame nodded mutely, staring still at Misao, who had started to undress herself with a roaring blush on her cheeks. "Mistress _Nika_ should not care so for this lowly servant girl," she murmured, looking away from her.

Misao shrugged, wrapping her stained shirt around her camera to stop the water molecules in the air to ruin her prized possession (even if it _did_ belong to the Museum). She handed everything else to Tsubame whom stood still, almost unsure of what to do. "Just, er, fold my stuff, or something. I dunno. What are you meant to do now?" she asked, following Megumi's lead and stepping into the hot water.

"I am to help you bathe." Tsubame murmured, folding Misao's pants neatly and placing them on a stone bench next to her shoes and Megumi's clothes.

Blushing, Misao shook her head and looked at Megumi who was smiling. "What?" she demanded, ducking under the water and wetting her hair.

"Just thinking what Kaoru would do. She's the one that knows how this whole thing works." Megumi stated, laughing quietly at Misao when she surfaced, and who seemed to jump out of her skin when a warm sponge landed on shoulders and started to rub.

Misao muttered darkly and turned to Tsubame to explain the concept of taking a bath without the need of assistance.

**-xXx-**

Stepping out of the baths and feeling nice and clean, Megumi and Misao couldn't help but stare in wonder at their new clothes. Megumi had been given a dark purple dress that hugged her figure, flaring out in folds about her hips. The dress revealed a modest amount of cleavage; it had only one thick strap that went over her left shoulder and a thin rope of material on the other shoulder. Around her hips, she had been given a thick, dark brown leather belt that had pouches hanging off of it; further investigation had come up with powders and dried herbs that made both women puzzled.

As for Misao, she had been given an intricate shirt to wear, which covered her torso and left her belly unclothed. The cloth was lightweight and smooth, a light blue in colour, that left her back exposed except for the large criss-cross of black material sown into the sides of the material at her shoulders and underarm's. Over the strange shirt, she had been given a fish-net-like poncho that reached her knees. She also wore snug shorts that ended halfway down her thighs, and sandal-like boots that tied all the way up her calves. Black arm guards and holsters at her hips, thighs and upper-arms completed her look.

"I feel like some kind of clown," Misao muttered darkly, glowering at Megumi who giggled lightly and picked up her skirts, flouncing past her in a manner where she could almost see fox ears protruding from Megumi's head.

"You're just sore that you got the hooker get-up," Megumi stated airily, grinning when Misao blushed darkly and pulled out a sharp kunai from one of the holsters at her hips.

"Hey! I'm the one with the sharp and pointy objects, ya know!" Misao threatened, wishing that Kaoru hadn't been whisked away by the mysterious red-head, and not here to restrain her.

"You're such a little kid," a deep voice behind her stated, and Misao turned to see Yahiko and the other two men behind him.

"Yahiko!" she exclaimed, hugging the taller boy/man to her, careful of the kunai still in her hand. "You're alive!"

Yahiko, who wore a plain yellow Japanese-style gi and white-grey hakama, flinched, prying Misao's steel-like arms away from his neck. "'Course I'm alive!" he growled, finally managing to save his neck from her grip. "Those guards said we'd see each other when they split us up, stupid!" He glared at her as he moved down the stone hall, following the servants ahead of them.

Misao nodded, grinning and skipping just ahead of him. "I knew that," she stated, and Yahiko had to remember to walk to stop from falling over at her statement.

Enishi, meanwhile, glared at the people around them, his suspicious nature creeping up on him. He wore a white kilt, the billowing material ballooning around his legs and making it difficult for him to walk properly (not that he'd admit it though). His original ensemble came without the open white shirt he now wore; it had been something he had taken from a male servant when he hadn't been looking. At his side, hidden away in a black leather scabbard, was an interesting sword; the long curve of the blade made it hard for him to identify, but it reminded him of a cross between an ancient Persian sickle sword and a machete.

"Earth to Enishi! Yo! Anybody home!?"

Enishi glared at Sano, eyeing his get-up with disdain. Bandages wrapped his fists and arms, lower torso and feet. The actual clothing that he wore were white pants and an untied white shirt with a strange symbol stitched in black on the back. Enishi had seen the same rune carved into the walls of the Tomb, but had yet to decipher (along with the other glyphs in the Lost City) what it meant. "What do you want, Sagara?" he asked, pushing up his dark sunglasses and looking at him from the corner of his eyes.

"This whole deal. It's strange. I mean, what the hell kinda 'Twilight Zone' crap have we walked through here? They've already taken Jou-chan, who's gonna be next?" Sano questioned, glaring at any male who looked at the woman that walked casually beside him. The possessive side of him came out, and he wrapped an arm around her waist, drawing her body to him.

Megumi frowned, swatting at Sano's arm out of frustration. "Shut up, Sano. You're scaring Misao," she grinned, glancing to the woman in question, who blushed and glared at her.

"I am not scared!" she exclaimed, folding her arms over her chest and stabbing herself in the arm with the kunai still in her hand. "Ow!" she yelped, pulling out the kunai gingerly and watching as the blood started to well up.

Megumi stopped walking beside Sano and turned to Misao, reaching for her arm to look at the accidental wound. "What have you done now?" she tutted, brushing a thumb over Misao's stab wound and watching her flinch. "It's not deep, thank heavens. Just a flesh wound… oh my!" she breathed, her cinnamon eyes widening when she stared at the green, blue and pink sparks that danced from her fingertips and land on Misao's injury.

As soon as the colourful sparks landed on the wound, it started to close, the lost blood seeming to be pulled back in to the wound as it closed fully, leaving only a small neat scar of white. It was the only testament to a wound that had happened not a minute beforehand.

Sano whistled behind Megumi, taking her into his arms once more. "Well I'll be damned. My woman can heal with magic," he kissed her on the cheek and grinned, Megumi only staring in shock at her hands as he continued to move her down the long corridor.

Misao followed after Yahiko nudged her, staring at Megumi as if she had grown an extra head. Beside her, Yahiko looked pale, undecided on how to act.

Enishi, like always, looked contemplative about the situation at hand, only for a sly look which came to his face as he said: "Megumi always _**did**_ have the healing touch."

Sano only laughed.

The servants had stopped at a set of doors when the group all came together, and opened the double doors into a large, opulent sitting room that seemed to befit a king. Velvet cushions littered the floors in small groups, the cushions ranging in colours from the deepest greens to the brightest reds. An open set of doors led to a balcony that seemed to over-look a vast garden of rich greens. A large fountain sat in the middle of the room, creating a gentle background noise of falling water.

"It's ancient Middle-East inspired," Enishi stated blandly, only after they were all ushered in to the room and left to fend for themselves. He moved about the room, staring at the drapes hanging from the stone ceiling that depicted various scenes of agriculture, artistry, history, religion and even – in some pieces around the room – family life. A large drape, decorated in rich tones of red, brown, gold and black, caught his attention at the other end of the room; distracting him from the small motif of a harvest scene that he had been studying. He moved away from it, and towards the darker drape that had so caught him under its spell.

As he neared the heavier-looking drape, his dark eyes widened behind his sunglasses, recognising instantly the man that had taken Kaoru away.

In the main square of the needle-worked tapestry, the red-head sat in a high-backed throne of red and gold, his yellow eyes hard and staring straight ahead, directly at Enishi as if he was watching him.

It was slightly unnerving.

Beside the imposing figure, also sitting on a throne, was a woman with dark eyes and dark hair, a golden circlet around her head. She wore robes of dark crimson, contrasting sharply with her pale skin-tone. Her face looked placid, serene almost, her lips crinkled into a small smile.

As Enishi continued to examine the drape, he noticed the cuts that had been hastily repaired throughout the tapestry, one such slash cutting through the woman's body, which looked to be expertly repaired unlike the other, hurried stitches. One only had to concentrate to notice that certain slash.

He turned away from the tapestry, a glyph stitched underneath the picture of the beautiful woman, catching his eye. Could it mean 'queen', or maybe some form of royalty? Taking a seat on a large, deep-red cushion, he thought in silence, watching the people around him.

Sano and Megumi sat on a wide cushion of crushed sea-green velvet right next to the fountain, lost in their own little world, mainly consisting of the coming baby and what was going to happen to them. They seemed at ease with that had happen so suddenly in the past twelve hours or so, unlike Misao or Yahiko who seemed to be panicking.

"Uh oh," Misao murmured as she stood up from the purple pillow she had dropped herself on.

Yahiko jumped up, ready to attack. "What? What's wrong!"

Misao blushed deeply and looked away from him sheepishly, "Uh, I gotta go to the Little Girl's Room."

That was all the answer he needed.

**xXx**

**X**

**X**

**xXx**

Kaoru stared out at the rising sun, her thoughts swirling on the man that she had seen in both the desert the night before, and the orb that she believed to be the beginning of all her new-found problems. The man with flaming red hair and piercing amber eyes… she couldn't help but feel like she knew him, or had met him in a previous life.

Lying back on the large bed she had awoken on, she stared out at the lightening sky, frowning in thought.

The nightmare before had caused her to think about growing up as a child…

Her childhood had, at best, been hectic. Both her parents being world-renowned archaeologists, she had been moved from one place (a new continent every few months) to another quite frequently, never staying in one place long enough to make friends.

It had only been natural, at the tender age of five, that she make an imaginary friend; one that (she remembered only vaguely) was tall to her child's body, and had the warmest, yet the saddest, most alone violet eyes she had ever seen.

She remembered him being there for her, whenever her parents were too busy on a dig, or soothing her during all those summer storms in Tokyo when her nanny had already taken her sleeping pills for the night. She remembered the feelings of being loved and protected, and strangely, her need to help him. With what, only her five-year-old-self knew, but her memory of her existence at five was vague and next to nil.

She might have remembered the reason for his sadness if she hadn't taken the news of her mother's impending death so hard. When she turned six, her mother had become ill; and only months later, Kaoru and her father were burying her in their family's mausoleum. Her mother had been the only one to nurture her imaginary friend; while her father told her, in the gentlest way possible, that her friend was make-believe.

After that, Kaoru became a very grown-up little girl.

Now, she couldn't even remember his name.

Sighing sadly at her lost innocence and youth, she sat up, observing her surroundings. From the lessening shadows in the room, she noticed that the bed she was on was positioned directly in the middle of the room, and on a raised dais. Great, billowing veils of several shades of blue hung from the four posters of the bed, and swayed gently in the breeze from the latticed windows. The bed itself was soft and covered in small cushions at the head and a thin blanket of silken material was bunched up around her waist.

As she looked around the chamber, Kaoru was reminded of an Arabian princess's room, elegant and created in such a way to keep the room cool during the day and warm during the desert nights. Intricately weaved carpets littered the floor in blue and green designs, all keeping with the colour code she'd noticed earlier.

Drapes hung from the windows, closed for the night and ready to open to welcome the day. The accompanying drapes that hung above her from the centre of the ceiling looked more like flimsy white and blue gauze that provided protection from the suns hot rays during the day.

Pillows and cushions littered the floor, and a small fountain trickled in a corner of the large room. Drawers and cupboards were hidden away by blankets, drapes, or tapestries. The room was fit for a princess and Kaoru was wondering why the hell she was in it… and also where her friends were.

A gentle knock from a hidden door off to her left caught Kaoru's attention, and she turned to see a woman in her early to mid-thirties with brown hair enter, a shorter girl about Yahiko's age following behind her with a pile of clothes in her hands.

"Forgive us for the intrusion, Lady _Aanelie_, but His Highness and your Protectors are waiting for us downstairs," the first woman said, bowing low in Kaoru's direction.

Kaoru blinked, only to scowl darkly. '_Will people stop calling me that?!'_ she thought savagely, watching the women bustle about the room, pulling back the thick drapes from the windows and securing them with ribbons hanging from hidden hooks in the walls.

The sudden light from the outside had Kaoru blinking to adjust her eyes to the brightness. "What's going on?" she asked, moving slowly to the right side of the enormous bed and sliding through the many veils separating her from the rest of the room.

The older looking woman straightened out the last drape and turned around, bowing slightly, her face to the ground. "We are to prepare you for your audience with His Majesty," she explained.

Kaoru frowned again when she noticed the young woman copying the same position as the first. "When someone speaks to me, I'd like to talk to their face; eye-to-eye and all that jazz. It's kind of annoying to talk to the tops of people's heads," she sighed, watching as the two looked at one-another, before straightening out slowly. "That's much better, thank you," she smiled, "And one more thing. My name is Kaoru, not this 'Aanelie' person you keep insisting I am."

"If… if your Lady-ship commands it," the younger woman said quietly, bowing her face slightly forwards.

"I can see this is going to take some work," Kaoru muttered, "But can you explain to me what this 'Aanelie' thing is? I'm not all that up-to-date with what's going on."

The older woman looked at Kaoru like she had sprouted another head. "Surely you jest, Lady Aa- I mean, Lady Kaoru," she said with a small smile, but bowed her head in supplication when she saw Kaoru's frown, "We are loyal only to your Lady-ship and our King."

Kaoru, to say the least, wasn't exactly happy with the woman's answer. How was she meant to figure out what was going on when no one was explaining anything to her, not even the basics?

"– he will explain. Surely your Lady-ship will have questions as to why you were summoned now, of all times," the younger one woman's voice broke through Kaoru's thoughts. She was setting out a small bundle of dark, midnight coloured robes on a small lounge Kaoru had only just noticed on the other side of the fountain.

She shook her head, noticing that the two women were staring at her strangely. "I'm sorry, am I meant to be doing something?" she asked.

"Tsubame-chan and I were just captivated by your beauty, Lady Kaoru," the older woman stated simply.

Kaoru blushed scarlet and turned away slightly.

"Madam Tae! If we don't start now, we'll be late!" Tsubame, the younger girl exclaimed, walking over to Kaoru and clamping a hand on her upper arm.

Tae smiled at Tsubame's statement. "Yes. Onwards to the bath!" she laughed lightly and Kaoru knew that it was a lost cause to ask any more questions as Tae started to advance towards her.

**xXx**

**X**

**X**

**xXx**

Snapping back to her consciousness and stepping away from the crimson liquid, she cursed darkly, pushing the bowl of blood away from her and letting it spill its contents onto the cold, icy floor. The torches around her flickered with the dark energies of her magical power, bending under her anger and malevolence.

This new situation had occurred far too soon for her liking, and her master would not be happy upon hearing this news.

Lifting her skirts, and stepping over the spilt blood of a random servant, she hastened out of the room, her dark thoughts swirling about the sudden appearance of the _Aanelie_.

'_Shishio would not like this predicament, not one bit,_' Yumi thought, weaving spell after spell of protection around herself and readying for her confrontation with her King.

**xXx**

**x**

**x**

**x**

**xXx**

**AN: **I'm participating in NaNoWriMo this year, so updated will be even more sporadic, but at this point in time, expect updates every Friday or Saturday, depending on work commitments. For all of those participating in NaNoWriMo (2012) good luck! Also, reviews feed my soul, and allow me to know that I'm doing my job as an author. _**Please review!**_


	4. Chapter 4: The King

The Lost City

A/N: NaNo is over and with my first win! Yay! Now, back to fanfic writing 'til November 2013! Only a few minor changes done to this chapter.

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**Chapter 4: The King**

He lounged in his luxurious velvet couch on the balcony of his tower, swirling the crimson liquid in an opulent glass cup. The rising sun glinted off of the lightly textured surface, sending sunspots and rainbows to dance in his eyes. Still he stared, his mind elsewhere.

The sunlight in the east caught his bloodied locks and played with the intricate artist's palette of reds and auburns, making his form all the more glorified and God-like than he already was to his people. A stray beam of gold caught his eyes, and his gaze shifted to the gold armlet that identified him, riddled with runes and pictograms of his high office. Frowning darkly, he stood and wrenched the armband off, throwing it into a dark corner of his shadowy chambers.

He'd find the offending piece of jewellery when he decided to come out of his rooms.

He turned to face the second tower to the west of his own, a dark smile coming to his face.

In that tower's main suite, lay the raven-haired goddess both he and his people had been waiting for. His Aanelie. Their Aanelie. The answer to everyone's problems, and the one to break the curse that _she_ had placed on him.

His golden eyes narrowed in thought.

The word that described the woman that lay unconscious in the tower before him sounded wrong. Aanelie was a word that had many meanings, one that also meant Goddess to his people in their ancient language. Although it suited the beauty perfectly, he couldn't help but want to call her something different, something new that only he alone could call her by. He needed a new word that symbolised her significance to him, and only him.

Something…

"Kaoru."

That was what the nika had called her. The name alone had an effect on him, a warmth starting to swirl in his gut and a primal instinct – driven by his curse – to protect her and keep her with him, beginning to pull at his conscience. 'Kaoru' seemed to roll off his tongue uninhibited, leaving him salivating for more.

He already felt obliged by propriety to treat his Aanelie – no, his Kaoru – with the utmost tender love and care.

"Kaoru…" he smirked, his gold eyes softening into a warm amber and lilac.

If her name was anything like the vision of beauty she was, then he would find it immensely intriguing to get to know this woman better, while she was helping him break the curse that had been placed upon him seemingly centuries earlier.

Growling, his eyes turned cold once more as memories long since past, surfaced to his mind. "Very soon Kaoru will break this curse. Until then, Shishio, I will look after what is mine. I will hunt you down for what you have done to me," he vowed, stepping into the lessening darkness of his room to find his gold armband. He sighed in frustration when he noticed it glinting at him from where it had been imbedded in the wall.

**X**

**X**

**X**

Kamiya Kaoru was never one to dress up in fancy dresses with make-up and dangerously high stiletto heels. Whenever friends managed to drag her out to clubs (most of the time through the use of black-mail), she would wear her nicest jeans and her best party top (anything she deemed clean and shimmery).

It wasn't that she hated to look good for the opposite sex, but rather, she didn't feel the need to be stared at like some kind of uncovered meat being sold by a butcher at market.

Besides, deep down in the recesses of her heart and soul, she had felt that the man she was trying to impress hadn't appeared in her life yet.

This pissed-off many of her friends who set her up on endless blind dates, that would in-turn, piss her off to the point she wouldn't speak to her friends for weeks on end. Misao and Megumi had learnt this the hard way.

Not even one to dress up for one of the Museum's many gala's and ball's, Kaoru found herself still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that she wore a dress that revealed more than she was entirely comfortable showing. Blushing brightly in front of the full-length mirror, she gazed at her form and wondered how exactly she had gotten herself into this situation.

The colour was a deep aquamarine, fading slightly more to pure blue towards the bottom of the toga-esq dress. Its cut was a halter-type design, the silken material hugging her bosom nicely (she couldn't help but blush when she noticed this) and ended in an Empyrean waistline just underneath her breasts. The skirt and body of the dress were lost in the silken folds, yet gave the viewer an illusion of the curves that were hidden beneath.

A shawl of the same colour lay on a small couch by the bathtub; most likely to cover her back.

Kaoru couldn't help but blush, imagining the reaction she would get from her friends once they saw her in this get-up. "Sano's jaw will hit the floor," she giggled, turning around when she heard the door to her rather remarkable bathroom open and her two 'maids' walked in.

Tae gasped, clasping her hands together and smiling genuinely. "Oh, Mistress… you look absolutely divine."

Kaoru looked away in embarrassment and shifted slightly. "Er, I'm not exactly used to wearing these type of clothes… I'm feeling a little exposed at the moment."

"Nonsense!" Tae exclaimed, moved over and picked up the shawl, draping it almost artistically over her shoulders, "Your friends are waiting for you in the Crimson Room. As for His Majesty, he doesn't liked to be kept waiting for long," she started to push Kaoru out of the room while Tsubame began to clean up the waterlogged bathroom.

Her heart beat a million miles a minute as she was taken out of the room she had awoken in, down a winding stair-case (she was surprised when it left her a little more than winded) and down countless corridors… and to her horror, even more stairs.

"Your audience with His Majesty will start when he calls for you and your Protectors. For now, you will be reunited with your friends and have a small brunch." Tae chattered on, oblivious to Kaoru's discomfort at the fact that the many people they passed in the halls stopped and bowed low to her.

Kaoru smiled wanly at the people, trying instead to focus on what Tae was talking about.

"-so much flurry because of your arrival! Then the Ball! Oh, it will be a truly magical night!" she continued, only to bump into Kaoru who had stopped dead in her tracks, "Lady Kaoru, what is the matter?"

Kaoru was breathing hard. A Ball?! She moaned dejectedly and continued walking forwards, ignoring Tae's cries of worry.

'I thought I had gotten rid of dressing up when I fell into this place!' she roared in her mind, feeling a migraine coming on.

**X**

**X**

**X**

The conference room had always been one of the most hated parts of the palace for him. Hidden deep within the architectural grandeur of his keep, the room had always been a moot point to him because of its blandness: four grey stone walls surrounded a long, wide table which could seat up to twenty-five delegates, plus a surplus of two guards to each emissary. All in all, there could be seventy-five people at any given time whenever a war was seen in the near future.

Reclining in his throne, gold armband secured once again around his right bicep, he glared at the map that was strewn over the table in front of him. His eyes flickered over to the rather large cluster of red, pulsating dots in the upper right-hand corner of the map, his anger reaching near boiling point at his enemies audacity.

He snarled, ready to tear the map to shreds… but stopped when the doors to the room opened with a whoosh and his right-hand, Aoshi, came striding into the room, his white cape billowing about his shoulders. His steely blue eyes flashed as he saw his king, holding out the violet orb to him as he approached the throne. "Battousai, I have what you requested for."

Battousai reached for the orb and smirked, watching as the calm violet in the sphere, bled into amber as his callused fingers brushed its unblemished surface. "Good," was all he said.

Aoshi nodded, standing beside the throne. Silence lingered in the room as Battousai examined the orb, turning it over in his hands as he thought about the recent turn of events.

"Go to the Dawn sitting room. Bring the Aanelie and her Protectors to me."

Aoshi turned to his king, his face stoic and cold. "Shall I bring them to the Throne Room?" he asked, stepping aside as Battousai stood up, cradling the orb in the palm of his left hand.

"Yes," he replied, walking towards the doors that still stood open, "It is of utmost import that we explain the situation to our most esteemed guests." He stopped walking when they reached the hall, the two burly guards standing to attention as their king walked by them. "I will meet you there."

Aoshi nodded his head, and turned, ignoring the small urge to sneeze as the stench of sulphur and brimstone filled the narrow corridor. Behind him, his king disappeared in a puff of black smoke, his golden eyes flashing in anticipation.

**X**

**X**

**X**

Misao frowned, carving her name into the low wooden table with one of her many kunai. "I'm bored… and hungry," she moaned, ignoring the twitch that had grown bigger underneath Yahiko's left eye. "Where's Kaoru? Where are we? What day is it? Do pigs fly here? If so, does the price of bacon go up?"

Megumi sighed and snuggled closer to Sano, watching as Yahiko jumped up from his position on the other side of the table and leapt at Misao, hands at the ready to throttle her. "The entertainment is fine, but I'm hungry as well. I have the right to be, seeing as I'm eating for two." She mumbled, grinning slightly when Misao caught Yahiko in a head-lock and proceeded to give him a hard noogie.

"If you've never noticed it, Megumi, you've always been buying food for three people. You, Sano and Sano's stomach," Enishi replied indifferently, moving causally to the side as Sano swatted at him.

The five friends and colleagues had entered the room not an hour ago, and had been informed by a guard that a small brunch was being prepared for them upon the arrival of 'The Lady Aanelie'. Upon that small tid-bit of news, they had crowded around the low table, seating themselves comfortably on the various cushions that were used instead of chairs.

When the group had questioned the guard as to whom the 'Lady Aanelie' was, all they had received in answer was a curious look from the guard as he turned and left the room.

"What I don't get," Sano started saying, one had wrapped around Megumi's waist and the other scratching the back of his head, "is why this Ann-e-lay type person is so important. I mean, what does it have to do with us?"

Enishi snorted, his arms folded over his chest as he opened his eyes behind his sunglasses. "You really don't get, do you?" he asked, looking at Sano from the corner of his eyes.

Sano shrugged, shaking his head. "It's not that I don't get it, it's more of I don't really want to get it."

Megumi frowned, "And why is that?"

"Dunno. I just have a bad feeling about the outcome," Sano replied, looking at the tabletop and going silent.

"It's all about Kaoru."

Misao and Yahiko's fight stopped abruptly, the two of them falling on the floor in a heap. Misao was instantly up, using Yahiko as leverage. "What's all about Kaoru? Speak, man!"

"Yeah, Enishi, what's this thing got to do with Kaoru?" Megumi asked, sitting up and watching the curious look cross Sano's face.

"Everything," was his only reply just as the doors to the room opened again and a slightly dazed looking Kaoru stumbled in, Tae muttering something to her that no one else could hear. Just as the woman had entered (albeit pushing Kaoru into the room) she disappeared just as fast, leaving the doors open as a small troupe of servants carrying trays of light snack foods walked in and placed them down on the table. They left just as quickly as the maid, almost in the blink of an eye.

"Kaoru!" Misao squealed, jumping up and hugging her friend.

"What just happened?" Sano asked, blinking at the sudden food that seemed to have suddenly appeared on the table in front of them.

"Kaoru's back and we have food." Megumi smiled, reaching over to a platter of sliced fruits and picking up an apple piece, popping the fruit into her mouth.

Yahiko, exclaiming expletives into the pillow that had cushioned his head when Misao pushed him into the ground, only now started to get up. His eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw Kaoru standing there in her newfound glory a ways in front of him. "Whoa… um, I mean, uh, Kaoru's back," he said, standing up and staring at her.

Enishi, who had noticed Kaoru's entrance, now started to notice the difference in her. What Yahiko had said to describe the way in which she looked now, did little justice. He smirked, hardly believing that under all that dust, attitude and her spit-fiery-ness, was a beautiful woman that (he'd never admit it) took his breath away.

She was like a goddess sent to earth… and his theory was being proven true with the vision before him.

"You look gorgeous, Kaoru! This dress really brings out your eyes!" Misao gushed, fluttering around her friend and admiring the new look.

At the mention of 'Kaoru' and 'dress' in the same sentence, Megumi sat up, mouth full of apple slices. She turned, along with Sano, and felt her jaw give way. She hastily closed her mouth when she felt the half-chewed food start to slip from her mouth. Beside her, Sano's reaction was very much the same– awe and something else sparking in his eyes.

Silently he stood, walking over to the two women who chattered lightly.

"-gorgeous, he was. My heart stopped and- Oh! Hi Sano!" Misao squealed, blushing when she saw Sano grin down at her.

Kaoru turned, smiling lightly at the man she considered her brother. "Hi Sano, what's up?"

"You… and that dress," he replied calmly, grabbing at the long shawl that was laying casually in the crooks of Kaoru's elbows. He picked up the ends and pulled them up, tying a knot just under her chin and making a big bow that fell over her torso and upper-arms, covering the low cut that made up the front and back of the dress.

The finished look made Misao start laughing and Yahiko to snigger.

"Sano!" Kaoru yelled, pulling angrily at the bow and glaring at the man. She tugged at the shawl, freeing some of the knot that Sano had tied, and turned away from him, stalking over to the low table and plopped down on a deep crimson cushion on Megumi's other side.

Megumi swallowed her mouthful of chewed apple slices and tutted at her fiancé, wiping her sticky fingers on a cloth she found folded underneath one of the platters of fruits. "Sano, for once in her life, Kaoru is wearing something down-right sexy, and you go and do this!" she shot a glare over her shoulder, picking at the knot and cursed, "Bloody hell, what kinda knot is this?!"

Enishi smirked at Sano's expression of sheepishness, and stood up, making his way calmly over to where Kaoru sat and kneeling down next to her. "Here, this is how you do it," he muttered, pushing Megumi's fussing fingers away and pulling in various places of the knot to free the bow, earning a grateful smile and blush from Kaoru.

"Er, thank you Enishi," Kaoru muttered, turning her head away and catching the raised brow on Megumi's face, "What?"

The older woman grinned, a slight smirk playing in her facial features as she replied: "Oh nothing. Nothing at all."

Kaoru frowned darkly, looking at her critically, "Just spit it out, Megumi."

Megumi chuckled and turned to Sano as he moved casually to sit next to her again, scratching the back of his head. "You are just horrible, Sagara." She pouted, earning a flustered look from him.

"I'm sorry! It's just that Kaoru is like the little sister I never had and seeing her in that dress and having all this talk about her bein' a goddess and all… it just got me a little jumpy!" he explained, sighing at the end when Megumi rubbed his arm comfortingly. Pregnant women were just downright scary to him.

Kaoru had been listening with half a mind to Sano's little speech, her thoughts dazing off to Enishi's fingers that had so deftly untied the knot, wondering why on Earth (or whatever this place was, because it definitely wasn't her home planet) he would do something like that. It certainly was out-of-character for him, because normally he'd be chuckling rather insanely at her misfortune.

She sighed and picked up a small cup of what looked to be orange-juice and took a sip, her mind slowly filtering back to reality when she heard Sano mention something about her being a goddess or something. Shaking her head to rid herself of those thoughts, she swallowed, nearly choking on what Enishi had to say next.

"It's true. Here, in these Lands, Kaoru is supposed to be some kind of Goddess." Enishi nodded firmly, eyeing Kaoru's reaction and let out a dark bark of laughter.

Chocking and spluttering, Kaoru wheezed gently as four pairs of hands beat her back or rubbed in circular motions (she could only guess as to whom was doing the pounding and whom were doing the rubbing). "What?!" she croaked, her eyes wide as she stared at her boss.

Unfazed, Enishi sat forward on the cushion he had occupied opposite Sano and Megumi, eyeing Kaoru and the others with a critical eye. "It's just like I said: here, Kaoru is thought of as a Goddess. The rest of us, apparently, are meant to be her Protectors."

The silence that followed Enishi's statement was nothing short of shocked. The others looked at one another, letting his words slowly sink in.

Yahiko moved out from behind Kaoru and sat on a cushion at the head of the small flat table, his brow creased in thoughtful concentration while Misao sat at the other end, closest to Kaoru. She looked troubled, her eyes picking out her name that she had carved into the table, surprisingly not covered by the various plates and trays that the servants (or kitchen-hands, whoever they were) had brought in.

"It's kinda ridiculous, though. Me? A Goddess?" Kaoru looked uncomfortably at her friends and giggled slightly.

"Enishi has a point, Kaoru. Remember when we all woke up in that Tomb and the mural on the wall was complete? All those figures looked like us. When we arrived in this castle, or palace, or whatever, we were given these clothes. They are the exact same ones that were in the mural!" Yahiko stated, turning to Enishi to support his theory.

Enishi just nodded, watching Kaoru who smirked.

"I'm not wearing what the figure in the mural wore, though, am I?" she asked smugly, earning a glare from the youngest member of the party.

"That's besides the point!" he retorted, glaring at her.

"Look, the point here is, is that we have to figure out what they want with us and how the Hell we're going to get out of here!" Kaoru said, standing up and started to make her way towards the doors of the room…

Only for them to be suddenly opened by two burly guards and have a tall, towering man with icy eyes walk in, bowing low to Kaoru before standing up again. She stared at the man, eyes wide. "Um, hello?" she said weakly, hearing Misao's gasp as she set her eyes on the mysterious stranger.

All of her friends suddenly appeared around her, causing a blush to rise to her cheeks as Enishi's words played out in her head, 'Kaoru is supposed to be some kind of Goddess'.

The man's eyes scanned the groups face's, lingering slightly longer than need be on Misao's face (which left her feeling light-headed when he looked away), before turning fully to Kaoru once more and bowing… again. "Lady Aanelie, His Majesty requests the presence of you and your Protectors in the Throne Room immediately."

Kaoru frowned when he spoke to the floor instead of to her. "Uh, okay? But, next time, could you talk to my face and not the ground, please?" she asked, feeling self-conscious.

The man stood up to his full height, his eyes looking at Kaoru critically before nodding slightly. "If her Lady Aanelie wishes it." He then spun on his heel and walked out of the room, "If you would follow me."

Kaoru and the others had to run to keep up.

X

X

X

Gold eyes peered out over his kingdom, watching as his people went about their day with a new and noticeable spring in their steps. He smiled, no darkness or malice behind his features; despite what his title said about him. He loved his people, loved his kingdom… had loved his first wife, even if…

He shook his head, turning from the bright light that shone down on his kingdom and towards the throne room that sprawled out beneath him.

The balcony he stood on was used mainly when addressing his people, wide and marvellously sculpted with creeper vines trailing around the railings and falling over the sides to hang majestically on either side of the royal banner. At this moment, the banner was rolled up, signalling to his people that he did not need to address them… at least not yet, anyway.

The wide stone archway that opened onto the balcony led into the throne room from the side. Stairs swept down to the room level, covered by the thick navy blue colour of the royal house, flanked on either side by railings once again wrapped in flowering vines that were tended to on a daily basis.

His gold eyes surveyed the room, smiling to himself at the architectural beauty of it. The throne rooms ceiling was domed, the sun blazing down into the room through the glass, and lighting it up as if it had no ceiling. Directly beneath the dome and in the very centre of the room was a pond set into the ground, surrounded by few cushions and low tables. Lily pads and lotuses gave off a heady scent through out the room, overpowering the incense that burned in the corners of the room. The water sparkled, silent and still in the room when suddenly a fish flicked the surface with its tail and broke the tranquillity.

Moving down the steps, he passed by the pond and towards the throne that stood on a dais directly opposite the balcony on the other side of the room. As he settled on the plush throne, his eyes settled on the glass orb, sitting cushioned on a dark navy pillow beside his throne.

The pillow floated in midair.

A small clicking sound filled the air in the throne room and he sat up, looking every bit the King as the ornate main doors on the right side of the room opened to admit the very woman he had been waiting centuries to see.

**X**

**X**

**X**

The ornate doors that the tall man led them to were thrown open by some unseen force. Kaoru jumped, the action scaring her slightly. Walking after the group that had started to move into the room beyond, she nearly screamed when Enishi lay a comforting hand on her shoulder.

She glared at him, remembering his earlier episode in the other room and shook his hand off. She walked over to Misao, trying to ignore Enishi, who was walking slightly behind her. Manoeuvring herself so that Yahiko and Misao were on either sides of her, she sighed in relief and turned her attention to Misao who was trying to ignore the tall, dark and mysterious man that headed the group. She was having very little luck, glancing at the man from the corners of her eyes.

Kaoru laughed gently, herself ignoring the man that was her boss. As she peered out at the formidably large room, she couldn't help but gasp a little at the enriching beauty of it, wishing she could stop for a little bit and let her inner historian loose to explore the various styles used in the architecture of the room.

As she walked, she spotted the Greek/Roman style atrium: a pond in the middle of a room in the centre of a home with the roof taken away to let in light during the day. All the doors in the house would be facing this inner room when light would bounce off of the pool of water, extinguishing the use of fire during the day. To say she was impressed was an understatement, her eyes almost hungrily searching for the next design to link a society to.

This came in the form of the large columns spread in a circle around the room, holding up the stone ceiling surrounding the glass dome above them. Almost Corinthian in design, the shaft was flat, whereas in actual Corinthian column design, there would be fillets and flutings. She frowned, wishing she could get a better look at the column (and silently cursing the flowering creepers that had been left to grow artistically from the marble planters around the pedestal) so as to determine exactly what kind of column it was. The only reason she guessed Corinthian make was from the acanthus leaf used in the making of the neck or capital of the column.

Kaoru turned her attention from the columns when she felt an almost familiar pang. An aura she had felt before washed over her, causing the hairs on her neck to stand on end once more. As dark as it had been in the desert, the aura this time was tinged with violet, a calming and passive presence soothing her frazzled nerves. She was lulled, for lack of a better word, into a sense of peace and serenity, the darkness comforting. Just as quickly as the aura had wrapped her up, it retreated, leaving her feeling suddenly empty and alone, even as Yahiko and Misao stood beside her. She blinked, lightly touching her chest where her heart would be. Strangely, she still felt the remnants of peace and serenity, her senses super-alert like she had never been lost in her own little world.

Beside her, Misao had started arguing with Yahiko about what type of flowers grew on the vines, while Megumi and Sano chatted nervously, the reality of what had happened to them sinking in finally. Enishi was silent, trailing behind them all and seemed to be on alert. Their newfound friend walked casually ahead of them, stoic and cold as when he had come to get them.

Kaoru frowned when she realised that he hadn't even introduced himself. She stepped forward, quickening her pace to match the tall man's stride and was about to ask who exactly he was… when he stopped suddenly. Glancing down at her with a slight quirk of his eyebrow, he looked to the others behind her who had stopped as well.

"The Dark Lord, King Battousai," he said with a flourish, stepping away from before Kaoru and revealing the raised dais on which stood an imposing throne… and the gold-eyed, red haired man that had whisked her away from the desert.

"Lady Aanelie and her Protectors… I welcome you to my Kingdom," Battousai said, his voice deep and slightly husky. He stood up and stepped off the dais, standing next to the taller man who bowed slightly.

Kaoru could only stare, only remembering slightly to keep her mouth closed, feeling that dark, comforting aura seep from him. He had yet to look at her directly, for which she was slightly grateful for, and stood watching the others with a predatory gold eye.

"You have to excuse my Second-in-Command, he forgets his manners," he continued, giving a slight glare to the taller man who remained stoic before him.

"I am Shinimori Aoshi, Second-in-Command of the Army and Head of Security here at the Palace," he said almost automatically, his voice as cold as his stare.

Kaoru glanced to the others, noticing almost instantly Sano's clenched fists at his sides; Enishi's slight tick in his cheek and Yahiko's clenched jaw. They were going to explode if nothing was done soon-

"Why are we here?"

Kaoru blinked, looking at Misao who had voice the question, a blank look on her face. She looked at Battousai directly in the eye, a small sheen of sweat breaking out on her forehead at his intense stare.

"It was prophesised that you all would accompany the Aanelie when she would arrive in our world. A glorious woman would appear from the Gateway, flanked by her guardians: the Healer, The Fighter, the Ninja, the Samurai, and the Sword." It was Aoshi who spoke, causing Kaoru to look at him.

"But that doesn't explain what the hell we're doing here!" Yahiko snapped, instantly trapped by Battousai's golden stare.

"It doesn't? I thought it would, little Samurai," he smirked, watching as Yahiko turned red with anger.

"Don't call me little!" he cried petulantly, acting anything but his age.

"It's true. It doesn't explain the reason why we are here. Are we figure-heads? Are we gonna be used as sacrifices? This is all just freaky Alice-in-Wonderland shit!" Sano yelled, running a hand angrily through his hair.

Battousai turned from them all, standing back up on the dais and reaching for a glass orb that shone a faint gold. The pillow that it had been cushioned on disappeared with a faint pop, the group of friends looking at one another uneasily. "This is the orb that you all found in that tomb. It allowed you to be transported to this world." He held up the glass ball and let it float out of his hand, the golden glow brightening gently until it flashed and the gold had turned to white. "As your names suggest, you are Protectors of the Aanelie, the only one who can break my curse and set my people free."

"Kaoru can take care of herself. Why do we need to look after her?" Enishi asked, his voice loud enough for all to hear.

Battousai looked at him, a dark glare coming to his features, his eyes burning a molten gold. "Because if you do not protect the Aanelie, then she will die."


End file.
